The Yacumama closed her wings tightly onto her sides, forming fin-like appendages as she descended once again into the water. Her conversation with the land dwellers had been brief. She was unsure her grasp of their language was sufficient enough to get her point across. Time will tell as she dove deeper into the depths…

“I am the last of my kind,” she thought to herself, as the shattering of the Gem of Immortality had separated her from others of her kind and she had no idea what or how it happened. “I must protect myself…at any cost.”

Yacumama are known to live centuries, in fact in her memory she had no experience of seeing one of her kind dead. If anyone had the power to kill her, it would be these land dwellers,or whatever may lie beneath. It was what she feared most, the danger in the depths. Deeper than even she could go, the darkness was where the evil was, she could feel it as she dove deeper. Her eyes were adapted to see in the water, and she could sense all sea creatures within 5 leagues in any direction. They were, after all, her children. This however, deeper, fathoms deeper, and darker than any soul she had ever sensed. The day was coming soon. She felt it. It was coming.

****************************************************************

Captain Cameron leaned back in his chair. He understood what the Yacumama was saying, but his guard was up, as was that of the Kings guard. “If she was telling the truth we will need a solid formation,” He thought to himself, staring at the stone walls of his office, “But if she’s lying she will have to be destroyed.”

The King himself had told him the story of the Yacumama. About how they had created the life in the oceans, seas, and rivers. About how they are responsible not only for the kraken who threatened our boats, but also the fish and crabs which fed our families. “Neutral” was a word he used to describe her. The truth is King Blackthorn believed the Yacumama to sleep through most of their lives only waking to replenish the balance of the seas. The king had advised that the Yacumama would be a better friend than foe. With that advice, Cameron would take the chance and trust her. “But if it was not the Yacumama creating these demonic forces that were attacking our shores, then what?” he said aloud to no one.

He stood up and looked out the stone window, watching an eagle fly overhead probably hunting a jackrabbit below. “Below…” Cameron thought, “If the creature comes from below, the guard will have a distinct advantage of being overhead when it emerges.”

A smile crossed Captain Cameron’s face when the idea came to him. “If the Yacumama is willing, I have a plan that just may work.” Cameron brought his fist into his hand and nodded as the eagle swooped down in the distance to grab it’s prey. “If the evil that lies beneath the sea wants a fight, it’s got one!”

Cameron wrote a message to be delivered to the town criers. “This week we will face the beast from below on our terms.” he wrote, “This week the waters will once again belong to us.”

“And to the Yacumama.” he thought, though he didn’t include that part in his orders. Laughing to himself he called in his door guard and handed him the paper.

“Make sure all our guards and citizens are aware” he said. “Even invite those from outside territories not under our Kings reign.” He looked straight at his guard “Anyone who is able bodied, must be there.”

As the guard left he sat back down at his desk with a satisfied look on his face. “Whatever evil it is, we will prevail.”